Hello there I thought I'd drop by and leave my thoughts on this first chapter, all criticism is constructive of course I never mean anything in a bad way ~ 

- The chapter is well constructed, the grammar and format is well done 

- 75% of the chapter has a very nice flow to the characters actions but the bit where the mother throws the child into the chair and straps him is odd to visualise and probably can be easily fixed with a quick rewrite. 

- I think the prologue, despite the nature of a prologue, should have some location set-up to help the readers get an idea of where they are and aren't just immediately thrown into the room with having little to no idea where they are or whats happening (makes it difficult to get into the story) 

- dialogue from the mother could use a little work, for example you could present how she talks as a normal middle aged (I'm assuming) mother that disguises her insanity 

- "Flashbacks hit him hard enough to make him stagger back -" Instead of saying that, you could write more about how this makes him feel, maybe with a metaphor your can interweave with the rest of the prologue and perhaps as representation of his emotional relationship with his mother that he returns to as the story progresses? (E.g. The sickness and memory of of his childhood is given form as a grey, wormy snake that rests in his insides, lashing out when he's reminded of it, but always there.) 



~ I hope this helps! I don't mean to sound rude in anything I say as I think this story has plenty of potential, (the blurb is great btw) :)